


Caught Stealing from the Thieves

by Vadianna



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Awkward Virgin Kylo Ren, Ben Solo is not coping well with the First Order, Brief Alcohol Use, Canon-Typical Violence, Casual Villainy, Dark, Hux is Not Nice, M/M, Pre-TFA, Rough Sex, casual villager and peon deaths, really awful sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-14 17:04:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15393387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vadianna/pseuds/Vadianna
Summary: On the eve of his Uncle's betrayal, Ben Solo has nothing except the First Order, who Snoke sends to rescue Ben from the ruins of the Jedi school.  It is not therescueBen expected, or wanted.  But it is the only way forward, and Ben is forced to adapt to his new life.The First Order is a cruel place.  Ben hates not measuring up, and continuously falls short of his merciless directives, leaving himself open to Snoke's punishments and Major Hux's cruel, judgmental amusement.  Hux's amusement runs to other things too, as it turns out.





	Caught Stealing from the Thieves

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a combination of two prompts:
> 
> \- [The Kyluxxoxo Summerfest Week 1](https://kyluxxoxo.tumblr.com/post/175438114450/kyluxtrashcompactor-the-kyluxxoxo-fest-starts), with a tic-tac-toe across the middle for robe, Force, and train. But this is really, really dark for the Summerfest. ^_^;
> 
> \- [The Kylux Cantina prompt](http://kyluxcantina.tumblr.com/post/175445141168/hux-has-a-single-plant-in-his-room-from-alderaan) "Hux has a single plant in his room. From Alderaan." Which is honestly so delightfully evil I could not resist. To no one's surprise, I am still incapable of writing a Cantina-length fill.
> 
> The fic is dark mostly due to the characterizations. The sex does have an abrupt transition, but both parties consent and enjoy, even after Hux's evil faux pas. I don't think anything else is extreme enough to tag, but my apologies if I missed something.

The transport landed, as promised. 

It was something firm for Ben to grasp, a way forward.  His mind was blank, thoroughly emptied by betrayal, violence, and the upending of his entire world. His uncle had attempted to murder him in his bed. Ben had acted in self-defense for a full minute before he had faltered, confused and empty, knowing that nothing would ever be the same again. Snoke had told him what to do after that. Ben had listened, though the part of his mind that wasn’t numbed screamed in protest as his lightsaber cleaved through the other students. He wondered if he looked like Luke as he did it. Snoke was silent on that point.

From the transport, as if he was watching a holo, some Imperial officer disembarked with four Stormtroopers behind him.

Stormtroopers.

Snoke had said that he’d send someone. But they were Stormtroopers.  And the officer was glaring at him, hands behind his back, eyes cold and judgmental.

“Who are you?”, Ben asked without thought, still shocked by all this.

The eyes took him in, head to foot. Ben was dripping wet, his hair drenched and hanging in his face, from sweat or blood or rain, he wasn’t sure. His leg throbbed where he'd taken a wound. His grip slipped on the shaft of his lightsaber as he tried to adjust his grip. Ben wondered what this Imperial officer saw. Whatever it was, he didn’t approve.

“We are to transport you back to the ship,” the officer answered, his accent strange, a match again to the old holos.

“What ship?”

“The _Supremacy_.”

“What-” Ben shook his head. “Where is that? What are… what are we doing when we get there?”

Ben’s future had disappeared in a matter of hours. He couldn’t go back to his life, his family, his mother or father. Not after what he had done. He had to go with this Imperial officer, no matter what. The man took several decisive steps closer, his boots squelching in the mud. The rain didn’t soak into his uniform fabric, instead beading and dripping off, as if the filth couldn’t touch him. His pale complexion stood out in the darkness, and under his ridiculous cap, Ben could see that his hair was a startling red.

His eyes flicked over the chaos of the temple behind him, back to Ben. His expression stayed fixed and disdainful, his tone dismissive. “I’m afraid those answers are above my pay grade. I was given orders to retrieve Ben Solo and any surviving students he saw fit for service.”

Surviving? Fit for service? Didn’t he see?  Couldn’t he see the fire, the bodies?  The blood on Ben’s hands and robes, couldn’t he hear Chaya screaming?  Couldn’t he see what they’d done here? That they needed help, that Ben needed to know what happened next?

Ben took another step closer, waiting for the Imperial officer to say something. Ben was used to intimidating people with his size, needing nothing else to get his point across on the rare occasions he was away from the temple. But the officer was nearly the same height, and his eyes flicked down to Ben’s broad chest before returning Ben’s stare and sneering at him.  “Welcome to the First Order.  I am Major Hux.  Board the transport at your earliest convenience.  We are to escort you to the Supremacy.”

Ben stared at him in disbelief.  Turned back around to stare at the burning temple, the ragged children behind him, many with raw lightsaber wounds.  Kel had a wound across her chest that looked bad.  Chaya was still screaming.  He’d lost a leg, maybe worse. He looked back at the Major.  The Major stared back, unmoved.  

“Not many of us are _fit for service_  right now, Major.”

“If necessary, the Stormtroopers will escort you aboard.”  
  
“It’s just that-” Ben began.  There was an Imperial holofilm playing before him, destruction behind him that he’d wrought himself.  His life at the temple, and his life with the Imperial remnant.  Neither seemed real. He was having trouble… processing this. Thinking. This had- It had been very quick, was all.

“Where’s Snoke?” These were Snoke’s people. Snoke had promised- He said this would happen, and he promised-

“As I said, we are escorting you to the _Supremacy_.”

The Major said this as if it was supposed to mean something. Ben didn’t understand, and didn’t know how to ask. He turned, looking at what had been home. At the ruin of his sleeping quarters, where he’d brought the roof down on himself, on Luke, when he’d woken up to the hum of a lightsaber and Luke, his uncle, the man who had raised him, had looked at him with such unrepentant _hate_ -

His hands were bloody. He realized he was gripping the lightsaber so tightly his hand ached. He couldn’t loosen it. Couldn’t undo any of this. He’d-

He’d killed-

“Can I have a shower?” He blurted, when the Major continued to stare at him.

The Major’s pale, expressionless face twisted into a knowing _smirk_. Ben felt the Major’s judgment cut him to the bone, and he withered beneath his perceived weaknesses. This cold reception, this uncaring Major, was the beginning of the rest of his life.

“The transport doesn’t have ‘fresher facilities. You’ll need to take up your concerns with the Supreme Leader.”

And with that smirk on his face, the Major turned and walked back to the ship’s ramp, his boots squelching through the mud, but still somehow pristine and untouched by it.

Chaya still screamed behind him.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Weeks later, Ben had begun combat training with a specialized unit of Stormtroopers. It was… hard. They were trained soldiers, and he was not. He was… he had to send back their blaster bolts with the Force, which he’d done for fun at the temple, but never when someone faceless (some extra from an Imperial holofilm) was pretending to end his life. It felt real.  These sessions were always a little-

Well.

They were bad. And it was always Ben versus the Stormtroopers. He had his lightsaber and the Force, but he only ever had enough presence of mind to deflect the blaster bolts, never going on the offensive. And what was he supposed to do with the lightsaber, anyway? They were on the same side. After ten days, he had failed to improve or change the situation. It was still Ben defending himself against Stormtroopers for hours a day.

But today, in a fraught moment, a bolt sizzled into his shoulder. It was the first time one had struck him, and it _hurt,_ was not the mild stun blast he had expected.  His frustrations boiled over, and he let anger wash through him as he lost control of himself. Without thought, he yanked the offending Stormtrooper toward him with the Force. The rifle fell from their hands, and they hung in midair before Ben. That, at least, stopped the incessant firing from the rest of them. Finally, Ben commanded a moment of respect, and it tasted triumphant after so many dark days.

But Ben wasn’t sure what to do with the Trooper after that. He lowered his hand, letting their boots touch the ground again. The two of them stood awkwardly staring at one another. No one in the room moved.

The moment ended when the doors opened behind him. “Fail him,” an Imperial voice commanded, filling the space along with the sound of immaculate boots snapping against the durasteel floor.

Ben turned around. “Fail him?”

Major Hux stood behind him, perfectly presented, the very image of the Imperial caricature that Ben had grown up with, save for his age and his red hair. Major Hux oversaw the Trooper training, and had been the one who monitored all the exercises that had been overwhelming Ben the past few weeks.

“If that saber is at all useful, fail that Trooper. That strike should have been fatal, and wasn’t. He deserves it.”

Ben frowned. “Fatal?”

The Major’s eyebrows rose. “Yes, fatal. What good is a mock battle if there’s no danger to it?”

“They’ve been trying to kill me the whole time?”

“Of course.” That smirk again, amusement. As if this was all some game that Ben didn’t know the rules to.

Ben turned back to the Trooper, who knelt obediently. Leaned his head forward so Ben could decapitate him with his lightsaber.

Ben felt sick.

“You can’t be serious,” he said, temper rising. “These are your soldiers. Don’t you… need them? For…” he trailed off. He didn’t know what the First Order did. Snoke hadn’t told him. He hadn’t seen any more of it than these training halls.

“For?” The Major looked even more amused, the corner of his mouth quirking into an unkind smile.

“War,” Ben mumbled, breaking his gaze. He looked out across the room. He couldn’t think straight, couldn’t tell how the other Troopers were reacting through their identical armor and helmets. Were they frightened? Didn’t they hate this? Why didn’t they turn on Major Hux and his cruelty?

“War,” Major Hux repeated, his tone mocking. He pulled out his service blaster, examined it a moment, then turned and shot one of the Stormtroopers.

The shot was accurate, coming between the join of helmet and breastplate. It felled the Trooper in one hit. Ben felt the life snap out abruptly in the Force, felt it as an unpleasant ache in his teeth. The Trooper was most decidedly dead, and the Major had ended their life for no reason.

Ben looked back to the Major. “Do you put so little value in the people who serve you?”

The Major holstered his pistol, taking a few steps forward and bending at the waist to examine the body. “The squad training with you are Troopers who have failed our regular program.” His posture straightened and he met Ben’s furious stare, his expression unchanging. “They are usually failed more efficiently. I was not certain how quickly you would go through bodies as we trained you for combat.” He smirked, again, as if Ben’s confusion was the funniest thing he’d heard all day. “That turned out to be less of a concern than I was led to believe.”

His expression fell to neutral, and he raised his chin, indicating the kneeling Trooper behind Ben. “That Trooper failed. Complete the execution.”

Ben turned, blinking at the Trooper. Looked out across the white-armored Troopers formed up around him. None of them moved, all of them wore the same identical expressionless helmets. He looked back to Major Hux, who stared blandly.

Ben clenched his jaw. He’d done it before. He pressed the ignition switch on his lightsaber. Thought about the blade going through Ness. Through Onlar. This Trooper was nothing like that, not people he’d grown up with, eaten dinner with. The Trooper was nameless, faceless.

He had to.

He closed his eyes to do it, because the Major couldn’t see him. But it was a mistake. He missed the vulnerable neck gap between helmet and body armor, and the blade caught on the Trooper’s helmet, backfired, and went out. The metal casing grew hot in his hand and he dropped it, stared at his palm instead of the body on the floor. The Trooper was still alive, Ben hadn’t felt the life go out in the Force.  But he couldn’t look, couldn’t think, just stared at the heat blisters on his palm. There was a humming staticky noise filling the room.

The Major made a disgusted noise, stepping forward and firing another shot into the Trooper, silencing him. Ben felt the snap of life going out in the Force again, the aching in his teeth. Ben didn’t look at the Major, didn’t look at the body, didn’t look at the other Troopers. He could feel them staring at him. There was a roaring in Ben’s head as he stared at his burned palm. The Major said something, and the room emptied.

He stood for several minutes before he heard the distinct ping of the comm in the room that meant a summons from Snoke.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Another miserable month was long enough to get him used to combat with the Troopers, both with weapons and hand-to-hand combat. He lost less fights, and he became used to the feeling of occasionally killing one. If he went too long without, Snoke would punish him. That was motivation enough, Ben supposed. If the other Troopers never responded to it, and neither Snoke nor Major Hux cared, why should Ben?

His… performance had improved to the point that he was now being sent out on missions. Still training missions, with the training Major. Small things. The current mission was an insurgency in a tiny settlement on a planet Ben had never heard of before. A small rebellion, overthrowing Order control over a mining operation. The Troopers had put down the insurgents handily enough. Ben’s job was to question the villagers, to find the head of the insurgency and be sure they were punished.

It was easy enough to compel the information from them. Snoke had taught him how. Fear of failure and anger at himself, for allowing the failure, for allowing Snoke to punish him, made the use of the Dark skill easy. He knew what he looked like, his reconstructed lightsaber at his side (he hadn’t been very good at that - he’d had to have the engineers help him rebuild it, and it was an ugly red thing now, not a Jedi weapon), dressed in black, those stars-damned Stormtroopers fanned out behind him.

And the Major. Who appeared just as Ben finished the questioning.

“Did you find the leader?”

Major Hux looked the same as always - straight, neatly presented, as if he could do no wrong. His command cap covered his distinctive red hair. His smugness was not yet apparent, but Ben had no doubt it would make an appearance. It always did.

“Yes. It was one of the ones we captured.”

“You’re sure?” The Major frowned, staring at the kneeling villagers, the craftsman and politicians and everyone who wasn’t a miner. “The most complicit are usually not directly involved.”

Ben turned and stared pointedly at Major Hux. Major Hux turned and stared back. Ben had yet to win a staring contest, so his eyes fell first. He had done this right, and he wanted it to be clear. “I’m sure.”

The Major rolled his shoulders. “Very well.” He gestured to the kneeling villagers before them. “Execute them, then join me back on the transport.”

“What?” Ben turned, shocked. “Why execute them? None of them led the insurgency.”

“They were complicit, were they not?”

Ben opened his mouth, looking back at the terrified villagers. One of them got unsteadily to their feet. A Stormtrooper shot them.

“They were,” Ben forced out, through gritted teeth. There was no sense in denying it.

The Major gestured carelessly. “Then use your sword and execute them.”

“What about-” defense still came naturally to Ben. The village was burning, the smell reminding him of the temple, of flesh that had been cauterized by a lightsaber. The hate-twisted face of Luke Skywalker, thinking that Ben would become just this thing. “What about the village,” he said reluctantly. “The remaining miners will need basic services.”

“We have other colonists for that. We’ll have this area re-populated in a week.”

Ben tried to think of another defense, but he knew it was hopeless. There was no going against the Major once he’d issued an order. Somehow, he was always correct in the context of the First Order. Ben’s life, now.

As Ben stood in silence, the Major’s familiar smirk answered him. Because the Major knew. He could see straight through Ben. Mocking him. He knew exactly what Ben’s protests meant. _Weak. Unsuited_. It still cut him deep, straight to his conflicted heart, with Light and Dark pulling it in opposite directions.

Furious, Ben turned to the villagers and did the thing that Major Hux didn’t think him capable of. That Luke tried to kill him to stop.

He pushed past Major Hux on the way back to the transport. Locked himself in the ‘fresher (because of course the transports had them - _fuck_  Major Hux), and crouched over the toilet until nothing more came from his stomach.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The mission briefing afterward was the last straw for Ben. He’d hated the smugness with which Major Hux had delivered the report as they both stood before Snoke. He’d hated the smirk that Major Hux had worn when he’d talked about Ben executing the villagers - casually, because that was simply how things worked. And after Major Hux had left, Ben had been punished, because Snoke recognized his hesitation as a weakness of resolve.

Snoke’s punishments were no light things. They weren’t scrubbing the temple steps, or cooking duties for a week. They were nearly unbearable spiritual punishments, a use of the Force that Ben still didn’t understand. Ben was scourged down to the core of his being. These punishments occurred outside of time, outside of Ben’s senses. He woke up a shell of a person, presumably so Snoke could fill him up with whatever he was supposed to be now. That person who ‘failed’ Stormtroopers and executed innocents because an officer had told him to.

This time, after the punishment, Snoke did not dismiss him immediately. He sat in his throne, head resting carelessly in his hand as he watched the blood run from Ben’s mouth.

“Kylo Ren, are you not satisfied with your life here?”

This was dangerous. The answer was obvious. “No, Supreme Leader. Yes, Supreme Leader. I am learning much.” The words barely made it out past his numb throat. He coughed spatters of blood onto the floor.

“That was not the question.”

Ben rolled his aching eyes up to Snoke. He tried to push himself up to a kneeling position. Couldn’t. There was too much pain. Snoke was asking if he was happy.

Ben didn’t know what would make him happy anymore.

Snoke’s features twisted into a snarl. “You are now Kylo Ren. Perhaps you should stop questioning those around you, looking to yourself for answers. Do not ask what _Ben_  would do. Ben is dead. _You_  are Kylo Ren.” He gestured dismissively. “You may leave me.”

Ben didn’t think he could push himself off the floor.

Kylo Ren stood. Kylo Ren went out into the hallway, strode confidently to the massive transportation network that led everywhere in the absurd ship.

Kylo Ren went straight to the source of his suffering. Kylo Ren did not notice the stares, did not wipe the blood from his face nor check to see if the bruises on his neck were visible-

_they weren’t, that was part of the reason he wore these clothes, and the black hid the blood_

-and Kylo Ren did not limp or otherwise betray his state.

Kylo Ren went to that miserable Major’s office. It was private. His father was some sort of General or something, and he obviously took advantage of the nepotism. He used the Force make sure the Major was in his office.  He used the Force to open the door. He used the Force to eject the other officer from the room. He didn’t see who it was.

Major Hux looked impressed, rather than intimidated. He did not get up from his desk. Ben faltered.

“You have my attention. Is there something you need?”

Major Hux’s voice was the only reminder he required. The pain of the punishment he’d earned from the Major’s subtle tattling fueled his rage. “I did not appreciate your report to Supreme Leader this afternoon.”

The Major raise his eyebrows. “This afternoon? That was yesterday.”

Ben paused. He’d lost a whole day to the punishment. He dismissed the shock, let the information stoke his anger. “If you have issues with my performance, tell me. Don’t bother the Supreme Leader with such things.”

Major Hux smirked, insufferably, and Kylo Ren’s hand came up, thinking of all the stories he’d heard about Darth Vader and the Imperials. What he _should_  have been. Ben looked at his hand in the air, dropped it. Major Hux raised his eyebrows again, then gestured with a gloved hand to his upper lip.

“You’ve got a little something. Just there.”

Ben reared back as if slapped, his hand going to his mouth. To his surprise, the Major walked from behind his desk, casually, pulling a square of fabric from within his greatcoat.

“Here. Allow me.”

There was a strange moment as Hux mopped at Ben’s face. Ben wasn’t sure how to react, and his hands froze in an abortive gesture, ready to push Hux away. Part of him knew Hux was doing this on purpose to take him off guard. But it was Ben’s blood he was mopping off his face, from a punishment received after Hux tattled on him.

Hux’s touch was gentle, and once he was satisfied, he stepped back, looking Ben up and down. “You wish me to criticize your… performance? You want me to give you my opinion?”

“Yes,” Kylo growled, his fists bunching up at his sides, back on track to what he wanted. “I would… like that. What do you think I need to do better?”

“Tell me something… Kylo Ren.” He said the name with a particular emphasis. It made Ben realize he’d never called him a name before. It took him off-guard once again. “How many people have you killed?”

It took Ben only a moment to calculate. Fifteen villagers. Six Stormtroopers. Four of the Jedi students, personally. Not Luke. “Twenty-five,” he said warily, offering the number before he could think better of it.

Hux nodded. “You have killed before joining the Order, then. Four, was it?”

“Yes.” Kylo thinned his lips, more defensive. “How many have you killed, Major? Personally, that is? Without ordering someone else to do it for you?”

He was thinking of the villagers as he said it, but as soon as it was out, he remembered the Stormtroopers, and felt foolish. He’d seen Hux shoot at least three of them without a second thought.

Hux, of course, got that amused look, the one that Ben knew meant he was _lacking_  somehow, the one that cut him. “I don’t count. I’ve failed-” he paused for a moment, and Ben knew he was feigning thought, that he knew whatever calculation he was reaching for immediately- “somewhere around three hundred Trooper candidates myself this year. Most don’t reach the stage that you’ve seen. Armored. Usually the conditioning fails before that point, if it isn’t going to hold.”

Ben wanted to ask about the conditioning, what that meant. If that was why they simply rolled over and died on command. Hux amusement stopped him,

“Before that? Other than failed Troopers? Do you want to know about fellow officers? Interrogations? Or perhaps the competitive nature of the academy?”

Ben thinned his lips and said nothing. Hux’s smirk grew into something more like a smile, though not a kind one.

“My criticism, Kylo Ren, is that you don’t seem to have the… stomach for the First Order. To keep the kind of discipline we need to maintain among our staff and on the planets we control.” He looked down, adjusting one of his sleeves. Kylo saw a flash of wrist. When he looked back up, Hux was staring meaningfully at the blood stains on the front of Ben’s black tunic. It was his blood, from Snoke’s punishment, but he heard the message well enough - he didn’t fit in with the uniformed neatness of the officers. Of Major Hux.

Hux’s smugness, his smirks, were insufferable because he was also right - Ben wasn’t meant for this. For any of this. He needed to be better. Needed to do what Snoke said. He wasn’t Ben, Ben wasn’t allowed to make the decisions any more. He had to be Kylo Ren.

Kylo Ren was the monster that the First Order needed.

“Conditioning usually helps with that.” Hux turned, taking the few steps back to his desk, and leaning casually against it. He removed his command cap, letting the light catch in highlights on his perfectly styled hair. It was the most relaxed Ben had ever seen him. He affected more of a slouch, putting one boot against the front of the desk, crossing his arms. Still amused. “But Snoke declined to have you put through the program. A shame. I think you would be happier that way.”

 _Happier_. Kylo Ren lifted his lip. “How would you know what would make me happy?”

Hux passed a gloved hand over his immaculate hair. “I don’t,” he said simply. “Would you enjoy sex?”

Ben’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

“Sex. Would you care to fuck me?”

Ben hadn’t… hadn’t. He hadn't been away from the temple very often. And he’d grown up with the other students. They were his siblings, and he simply hadn’t been drawn to them in that way. He had enjoyed pleasuring himself furtively, though he could usually do that with just a touch, the feeling of his own slick hand enough to give him the orgasm and the relaxation that came after. Two of the others had shared holoporn with him, and he’d used it on occasion for a fantasy.

He’d never considered the reality of having sex with someone before. Did it happen like this? Did someone simply ask? Was it this transactional? Ben had always assumed it was something that you built up to, that there was a relationship involved. He’d initially consoled himself with the idea that he could fall in love here. He could have that, at least, if he wasn’t a Jedi. But the First Order, with its faceless uniformity and cruelty, hadn’t lent itself to desire.

And apparently they didn’t do ‘lovers.’ Hux’s smile broadened, and he slid himself back on the desktop. Whatever Ben’s reaction had been, it hadn’t been the correct one. And Ben was tired of amusing Major Hux.

“I would much rather watch you fuck yourself, Major.”

Hux grinned, and it seemed genuine enough. He must have passed some sort of test. “That can be arranged. Follow me.”

He activated a different door panel, this time admitting the two of them into spacious living quarters. There was a kitchen, a counter with a bar. A holoset, an ice blue couch in front of it. It was well-lit with soft overhead lamps, and smelled vaguely floral, which surprised Ben. It was also larger than Ben’s entire quarters, not that Ben needed this much space.

“Fix yourself a drink,” Hux offered absently, waving a gloved hand at the bar. “Whatever you want.” He glanced over his shoulder, smirking again, and Ben realized that Hux didn’t think he would, that Ben would have to drink now. Ben's jaw tightened, and Hux continued, waving vaguely in the direction of another door. “Give me a moment. I’ll get the things.”

Ben didn’t know what the things were. He used to use mechanical oil when he masturbated by himself. He didn’t remember the holoporn having ‘things.’ He walked stiffly to the bar, assessing the bottles. Most were labeled in a script that Ben could not read. He could write in three different systems, and the First Order used none of them. He grabbed a glass decanter with a red liquid in it, took out the stopper, and sniffed it. He had consumed wine when his mother visited, and when he went to Hosnian Prime on short diplomatic runs and demonstrations. He didn’t care for it.

He looked at the strip of light under the door that Hux had disappeared through. He drank directly from the mouth of the bottle, mostly to annoy him.

The liquor was spicy, and strong. He nearly choked on it. He felt it burn down his throat, hit his stomach, and threaten to come back up immediately. He slammed the bottle onto the counter, putting a hand over his mouth until he was sure he could control himself. He took a deep breath, grabbing the glass stopper and holding it above the bottle, then cursed and realized it would look like he hadn’t taken a drink.

Hux emerged then, dressed in a soft black robe that brushed the tops of his bare feet. Ben paused. He could see his neck, his collarbones, his bare hands. His bare feet.

It was more than Ben had seen of anyone in months, and he hadn’t realized how the sight of it would tighten his chest, make him long for the more casual life he’d had in the temple, where a flash of thigh or a clever pair of slender fingers could be appreciated regularly. It wasn’t…

It hadn’t been _erotic_ , then. The lack of it now made even Hux’s pale skin look…

Well. Hux looked good. Ben hated it.

“The Dalonbian cordial?” he said casually, glancing at the bottle. “I’m surprised. Have you had it before?”

“Yes,” Ben lied. “I’ve been treated to it on a few occasions.”

Hux smirked, because of course he could see straight through Ben. “I’m sure you have. Feel free to pour yourself some.” He pointed at the glasses, then turned to the sofa. “None for me. The effects linger, and I have an early shift tomorrow.”

Ben stared at the bottle, the angular writing on its label. Dalonbian. Right. He filled one of the small cut crystal glasses, then used the Force to deaden his senses enough to drink it off in three swallows. When he slammed the glass down, giving Hux a challenging look, Hux appeared genuinely pleased.

“Well. You look like you can hold your drink, but the way you act… Nevermind.” He gestured to the sofa before kneeling backwards, bracing his arms across the back.

“How do I act?” Ben asked, crossing the room in several steps, standing just behind Hux. He looked so narrow in the robe, so vulnerable. Kylo Ren raised a hand again, held his palm inches from the back of Hux's neck.

“Proper. As if you’ve lived an isolated, religious life.” He turned, smirking over his shoulder. “You said you wanted me to fuck myself. Do you want to watch me get ready?”

“Mmm. Yes.” He wasn’t sure what that entailed. But he was more than happy to put however much of this into Hux’s hands.

“Good. I don’t want to waste time. I have other things I want to do tonight.”

Right. Transactional. “As you say, Major.” Kylo Ren’s hand moved lower, and he used the Force to bunch Hux’s robe up his back, putting his narrow ass and thighs on display. “And how do you plan on fucking yourself tonight?”

“Fingers, you animal. I’m not going to use a toy the first time.” He glared over his shoulder, obviously unhappy with Kylo’s use of the Force, or whatever he’d said about a toy. “How much of a show do you want?”

Kylo asked himself that. “Well. You could put a little more effort into the display, couldn’t you, Major?” With another hand gesture, he forced Hux to bend over the low back of the couch at the waist, so he was kneeling with his ass in the air, pointed toward Kylo.

“Don’t do that,” Hux snapped.

“You’re the one that said you wanted efficiency. I’m just trying to show you what I want the fastest way possible.” Hux did look good like this. He had freckles down his back and scattered across the pale skin of his thighs. The copper hairs on his legs ended in bare skin just below his ass, which was slightly parted, though not enough to show Kylo anything. Hux’s cock was hidden from view, though he could see a hint of pink between his legs.

“You haven’t been eager to use it against the Troopers or on missions, so I assumed it wasn’t on the table for sexual congress.”

“You get everything.” Kylo’s thoughts were softening at the edges, and he could feel himself responding to Hux, to the situation. That was a relief. He wasn’t sure what he would have done. He was terrified.

Correction. _Ben_  was terrified. Kylo Ren could do this, probably did this sort of transactional sex all the time.

Hux had pulled a small bottle from the pocket of his robe, was pouring a clear fluid over his fingers. “Well. I’m getting nothing so far. Step around here and take those clothes off. Give me something to think about.”

“Something to think about.” His voice came out high, sing-song. A mimic. More Kylo Ren. He pulled his gloves off, threw them on the floor. “Have you thought about it before, Major?”

“Of course. I asked, didn’t I?” He reached a hand behind himself. Kylo was sorry he didn’t get to see the breach, but he was drawn into this conversation now, his thoughts more fluid, relaxed.

“I assumed you asked because you thought I’d say no.”

“I did. But you have the type of build I’m attracted to. Big. Those hands. Let me see them.”

Ben reached forward, pushed Hux’s hair out of his eyes. He’d brushed the product from it, and it was falling loose around his face. “How close?”

“Try my mouth,” Hux said, voice growing higher as his arm tightened behind him, expression annoyed.

Kylo Ren did, putting two fingers in Hux’s mouth, holding the pads of his fingers against his tongue, sliding them further back. The other hand clenched the air beside his head, then slid around his neck, grip tightening slightly with his thumb over a pulse point, fingers digging into the back. He leaned in closer. Hux smelled sweet, was using some sort of citrus scent on his skin or hair.

“Like this? You surprise me, Major. I thought you enjoyed your snide little comments too much to allow yourself to be silenced.”

Hux made a strangled noise, his eyes falling closed. His arm flexed again, and Kylo heard the small sounds of Hux’s fingers working behind him.

“This what you had in mind?” Kylo slid his fingers out of Hux’s mouth to allow him to respond.

“Take the kriffing tunic off. Pants. More.” His face was flushed, he still looked angry. His arm was working more steadily now. Kylo let his fingers trail along the Major’s lips before he pushed them back into Hux's mouth, and Hux groaned around them, his tongue pushing up against them. Kylo tightened his other hand incrementally around Hux’s throat before loosening his grip, sliding his thumb from Hux’s pulse to gently caress his windpipe.

“I need my hands to take my clothes off. You seem to like them just how they are.”

Hux made an annoyed sound in response, pulling back and away from Kylo. Kylo dropped his hands, and Hux looked more genuinely angry. “Strip. Now. I don’t have all night.”

Kylo took a step back. Ben was pleased that his hands were steady as he undid his belt, dropped it to the floor. He unhooked the fasteners on his tunic next, pulled his sleeved undershirt off over his head. This was much easier, he noted, if he imagined Kylo Ren doing it. Ben liked this well enough, but Kylo Ren was far more suited to it. Whatever he had drunk was sitting unpleasantly in his stomach and wreaking havoc with his thoughts - he seemed apart from the action, as if he was watching Kylo Ren do this thing, as if it were Kylo Ren’s smooth words coming from his mouth. The arousal that burned low in his belly and stiffened his cock grounded him, made this act sharp and real as things threatened to slip away.

It was the arousal that made him focus on Hux’s expressions, which before now had seemed limited to indifference, cruelty, and mockery. Now Ben saw the interest and arousal written plainly across Hux’s features as he removed his undershirt and lowered his suspenders, savored the sound Hux made as he briefly closed his eyes and flexed his arm just so.

Ben hooked his thumbs in his waistband, but paused, watching Hux’s arm move, his hand still concealed behind him. When silence played out for a full minute, Hux’s expression soured.

“Well? Let’s see it, then.”

“It?”

“What are you going to fuck me with?”

“You sound so critical. You were the one who asked.”

“I assumed it was proportional. I hope so.”

“Proportional,” Kylo Ren mocked, “Have you fantasized about my large cock, Major?”

“I’ve told you, yes, I find you attractive. You won’t shame me with my taste. _Get your pants off_.”

“Hmm. You’re the one that loves efficiency so much. I’m not going to take them off. I’m only going to undo them enough to…”

He undid the front of his pants and lowered his underwear, freeing his erection. He was fully hard, leaking. There was a damp patch visible on the front of his underwear, and threads of fluid pulled obscenely as he tucked the waistband below his balls.

Hux’s face froze in shock, and his arm stilled. He looked from Kylo’s cock to his face. He tried to control his expression. Couldn’t. Looked angry for a moment, then fixed his gaze somewhere behind Kylo. He grunted, doing something else with his hand.

Ben snapped back to himself. He didn’t know what that meant. Was there something wrong with it? He stroked it tentatively, smearing the precome around the head. Hux’s face reddened, and he kept his gaze fixed on the wall. His arm sped up.

“Well. Is it… proportional?”

“No,” Hux said tightly. “Give me a moment.  And take the lube.  We'll need it.”

Ben didn’t know what that meant, but he slicked himself obediently. He walked awkwardly around the couch, both the drink and the pants around his thighs making it more of an ordeal than he liked.

He stopped, shocked, as he watched Hux move three fingers in and out of his ass. He was holding himself open with the other hand now, spreading himself with his knees against the back of the couch. The clear, slick lubricant ran down his thighs, staining the ice-blue fabric.

Ben didn’t know he could be so affected by the sight of Hux stretched loose and sloppy around his own fingers as he readied himself for the girth of Ben’s cock. Hux was a mess, and obviously flustered, so unlike himself. So _untidy_. Ben made an involuntary noise, gripping his cock tightly.

“Another moment,” Hux said testily, shooting a glance over his shoulder. “I was not… expecting that.”

Ben didn’t understand, but he knew if he watched much more of this, he would stroke himself finished, and he needed to do that inside Hux. He walked awkwardly back around the couch, using his other hand to steady himself when he threatened to sway and trip on his pants.

“No need to show off,” Hux said testily. “I should be ready now. Go slow. Give me time to adjust.” He paused, swallowed, his gaze falling on Ben’s hand on his cock. “I’m sure you’re used to it by now.”

Ben stared at him dumbly, then gestured sharply with one hand as he stepped forward. With a yell, Hux rolled over. Ben caught a thigh in his sticky hand as he positioned Hux’s back on the sofa, one arm supporting Hux from behind, drawing him close. When Kylo was finished positioning the two of them, he was supporting most of Hux’s weight with his arms, both Hux’s legs tossed over his shoulders.

Hux’s robe had fallen open and the wide sleeves bunched around his shoulders, revealing pale forearms and a skinny, thin chest with tiny pink nipples and a dusting of copper chest hair. The thin belt of the robe trailed across his waist, but what caught Ben’s attention was his erection. Small, not much longer than his index finger, hard and nearly purple, lacking a foreskin.

Hux had flushed down his neck and chest, and his hands came up frantically to push ineffectually at Ben. He noticed them gripping while they pushed, feeling his biceps and pectorals. “I told you not to do that,” he hissed. “I don’t. I don’t do face-to-face.”

Ben stared at him blankly. “Why?”

“Because I like a hard fuck and to get on with things,” Hux snarled, his voice rising, his fingers digging into the meat of Ben’s shoulders. “I don’t like _this_.”

“But how can I see you?”

“You don’t.”

Ben shifted, moving his hand from Hux’s thigh, causing him to tighten his hold on Ben’s shoulders. “But then I wouldn’t see _this_.” He ran his fingers delicately up Hux’s cut cock, enjoying the sight of the shaft, the small head in his large hand.

“That’s _enough_ ,” Hux said, and Ben caught-

It was-

Hux was _embarrassed_ , mortally so, enough that Ben could feel the edges of it without seeking it out with the Force. He opened his mouth to reassure him, forgetting momentarily that Major Hux would not thank him for reassurance, regardless of how much Ben liked his cock. But his gaze caught on something over Hux’s shoulder.

“What is that?”

“What is _what_ ,” Hux asked, annoyed, twisting to see what Ben was looking at. His expression cleared, replaced by that smugness that Ben hated so much.

“Oh. You mean my Starfruit Blossoms?” He asked, affecting an air of casualness that was entirely inappropriate to the situation. “I’m surprised you noticed them. You’re the first person that’s commented.”

“They’re. That is.” Ben stared, his skin feeling clammy, an ache starting at his temples. This plant was extinct. It was Alderaanian. His mother had carefully nursed one when Ben was younger. It had died. The only time he’d ever seen his mother weep openly was the day she had buried it outside, in the little garden behind their apartment building. Ben was five. He hadn’t asked why. “Why do you have them?”

“A reminder,” he said simply. “An ambition. The Empire, you know. They wiped out the whole planet so easily. As a gesture. Just like that, an entire species of plant was gone. As far as I know, that’s the only one left in the galaxy. Right?”

He raised his eyebrows. Ben met his gaze. He didn’t understand. He didn’t want to understand.

Hux, being Hux, had to drive the point home. “Anyway. I appreciate your eye for decor. Were we not in the middle of something, Ben?”

 _Ben_. The name echoed between them. Hux knew.

He _knew_.

Ben just.

Kylo Ren was the one that stroked his erection back to full. Kylo Ren was the one that entered Hux, much more roughly than Hux had asked for. Hux didn’t mind either the roughness or the position. He groaned around the intrusion, breathing deeply, his hands clawing into Kylo’s shoulders as Kylo pushed, in and further in, until he bottomed out in Hux.

Instinct took over. He pulled out, pushed back in. Hux was so tight, Ben wouldn’t have lasted more than a few pushes. Kylo Ren did. Kylo Ren’s gaze stayed on the Starfruit plant, and he fucked Armitage Hux across the back of his ice-blue sofa with hard snaps of his hips. He kept an arm across Hux’s back, holding him up as Hux’s hands clawed and his calves flexed around his neck. His other hand kept a firm grip on Hux’s cock, and when Hux came and he felt a tight spasm around his dick, he merely paused, breathing through his nose.

Kylo Ren closed his eyes, and used his training to gather calm around him. After a moment, his eyes opened and he continued, fucking Hux hard. Hux groaned, begged, pleaded for more. But he did not ask Kylo to stop, and Kylo didn’t. He fucked Hux until his thrusts grew shallow and erratic, and he looked at Hux’s face as he came inside him.

After a moment, he pulled out and dropped Hux backwards onto the cushions of the couch, watching the mess spread across the fabric. Ben wanted to ask about it, what Hux did when he made a mess on his couch during sex.

Kylo Ren tucked himself back into his pants. Gathered his clothing from the floor. Did not wait for a dismissal. Walked out of Hux’s rooms, using the main door to the hallway, barechested and sweat-slicked.

He wondered if Hux would ask again, and if he would insist on his rooms every time.

Of course he would.


End file.
